Awareness creation on Cyber Crime key for digital migration

By
Fatima Anafu-Astanga, GNA

Winkongo (UER), Oct.
19, GNA – Dr Herbert Gustav Yankson, Director in-charge of Cyber Crime Unit of
the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, has
expressed worry for the lack of awareness of risks in the internet space as
cyber fraud cases are on the increase.

He said the lack of
awareness exposed Ghanaians to risks of on-line attacks to children, increasing
net predators, and mobile money fraud, among others.

Dr Yankson made this
known in an interview with Journalists at Winkogo in the Talensi District of
the Upper East Region, after a Regional Cyber Security awareness programme held
for second cycle schools at the Bolgatanga Senior High School.

It was organized by
the National Communications Authority for senior high schools drawn from the
Region.

The Cyber Crime expert
called for adequate preparations to protect citizens from the dangers of cyber
fraud threats and reducing vulnerabilities for a safer, digital migration.

He said government
placed importance to citizens’ protection and security in the drive to
attaining a digital compliant country and noted however that online and phone
technologies use abound with lots of opportunities and convenience for
E-products.

He alerted that cyber-
crime was dynamic and criminals were also gearing themselves with sophisticated
avenues to exploit the system and said government was taking steps to create
needed awareness on cyber security throughout the month of October to inform
citizens of the risks and opportunities in the use of the internet and to
prepare the citizenry for online safety.

He said fraud alone constituted
60 per cent of crime recorded daily and stated that the country lost 35million
dollars to fraud in 2016, and in 2017, an amount of 69 million dollars was lost
whilst 97million dollars was lost by August 2018.

Dr Yangson indicated
that the ongoing Regional Cyber Security Awareness programme would be climaxed
with weeklong activities with total participation of the President of the
Republic of Ghana who also endears himself with challenges of crime to drum
home the need for protection of all Ghanaians.

Mr Philip Danquah
Debrah, Business Operations Manager of Cyber Security and Investigations
Bureau, in an earlier presentation on choices and online safety, urged the
students to be responsible in decisions they made regarding what information
they gave out about themselves and advised them to be circumspect with chat
rooms.

He said child related
cyber crime was on the rise and indicated that to help protect children against
it, parents must keep computers in common areas in the home, regulate their use
by monitoring what the children did when using the computers.

GNA

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